Aloft Hotel Coming to Tapestry Park
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/772097266_NrDcR-L.jpg)
The Southside and Tapestry Park continue to expand despite economic conditions. Aloft Hotel will become the district's newest addition and one of the first developments in the area on track to receive LEED Silver Certification.
Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2010-feb-aloft-hotel-coming-to-tapestry-park
That area is definitely growing. The new direct access from Southside Blvd will help.
The other ALoft hotel was "value engineered" big time. I seriously doubt that they can achieve any LEED certification with destroying the architect's design. It may be designed to LEED standards, but I'll eat my shorts if they actually build to LEED standards.
LEED silver is very easy to attain
http://www.explorealofthotels.com/
put your clubbin shirt on.
I have an upcoming trip to Kansas City... I could have chosen Aloft!
I LOVE disco!
Ah well.
Another place crammed into strip mall city instead of the urban core... cause I know when some says 'new' 'chic' hotel I think suburbs.
Quote from: Shwaz on February 05, 2010, 09:17:41 AM
Another place crammed into strip mall city instead of the urban core... cause I know when some says 'new' 'chic' hotel I think suburbs.
Yes, and when I think of "chic" I think of downtown Jacksonville.
there's already one of these in jax up near that new development by the airport
Quote from: Duke on February 05, 2010, 09:21:16 AM
Quote from: Shwaz on February 05, 2010, 09:17:41 AM
Another place crammed into strip mall city instead of the urban core... cause I know when some says 'new' 'chic' hotel I think suburbs.
Yes, and when I think of "chic" I think of downtown Jacksonville.
and with that mentality it never will be....
I wouldn't call Tapestry Park a strip mall. It has a slight downtownish feel with residential above retail and a main road. The hotels are on the ends of the roads. There is still the suburban parking lots, but all in all, not too bad.
I didn't mean Tapestry Park was a strip mall.... but that it's surrounded by strip malls on maybe the longest corridor of strip malls in the city.
Quote from: Shwaz on February 05, 2010, 09:17:41 AM
Another place crammed into strip mall city instead of the urban core... cause I know when some says 'new' 'chic' hotel I think suburbs.
It's right next to offices of Merrill Lynch and Blue Cross, down the street from the St Johns Town Center and has easy access to I-95, 9A and JTB. Who are you trying to fault here? Hopefully not the developer because what they are doing is smart business-wise. Tapestry Park is anything but a suburban "strip mall". You talk about other people's mentalities but what about your own?
Again I'm not saying that Tapestry Park is a strip mall. Downtown is located next to I-95 too It also has more than just 2 large companies.
Maybe we could put a POD hotel in Mandarin it's close to 95... or a W Hotel in Macclenny ;)
Quote from: Shwaz on February 05, 2010, 09:59:20 AM
Maybe we could put a POD hotel in Mandarin it's close to 95... or a W Hotel in Macclenny ;)
Because that is the same thing? {yawn}
How about a Hard Rock right off 103rd?
Adding density to a fairly urban-ish development is a win in my book. Maybe this will be the new minimum for developments in Jax. if new significant projects are required to be At Least this dense and well planned, then I think we're headed down the right path.
I wonder who will get a street car first, gate parkway, or DT.
Quote from: Shwaz on February 05, 2010, 10:07:45 AM
How about a Hard Rock right off 103rd?
YES!! ;) That will compliment the Westin on Normandy perfectly.
DT will get it first. The JTB corridor would be better served by LRT than streetcar.
Lake, I was thinking about a street car from Tapestry Park/ Tinsletown to the Towncenter. There are enough jobs and residents within about 2.5 miles and now some large commercial draws to almost justify one.
Quote from: Captain Zissou on February 05, 2010, 10:31:06 AM
Lake, I was thinking about a street car from Tapestry Park/ Tinsletown to the Towncenter. There are enough jobs and residents within about 2.5 miles and now some large commercial draws to almost justify one.
only if it is funded by the businesses in the area.
Quote from: tufsu1 on February 05, 2010, 10:42:51 AM
Quote from: Captain Zissou on February 05, 2010, 10:31:06 AM
Lake, I was thinking about a street car from Tapestry Park/ Tinsletown to the Towncenter. There are enough jobs and residents within about 2.5 miles and now some large commercial draws to almost justify one.
only if it is funded by the businesses in the area.
It would probably just be a shuttlebus disguised as a street car.
Maybe Starwood is testing out our market with these Aloft Hotels to see if a full scale/full service W hotel would be profitable here when the economy comes back. If we had a W hotel downtown, it would serve as a nightlife hotspot, would serve restaurant needs, hotel needs, more meeting space, and would play host to numerous high profile events throughout the year. I live one block from W Midtown in Atlanta, and it is hopping every night and features a famed chef from New York in its main restaurant. It has several bars and a nightclub and hosts fashion shows and fundraisers with celebrities all year long. It is one of the biggest draws of the area. Before it was a Sheraton hotel that was nothing special.
That would be a great addition to the Landing.
Isn't/Wasn't W run by one of the two founders of Studio 54?
Quote from: simms3 on February 05, 2010, 11:36:57 AM
If we had a W hotel downtown, it would serve as a nightlife hotspot, would serve restaurant needs, hotel needs, more meeting space, and would play host to numerous high profile events throughout the year. I live one block from W Midtown in Atlanta, and it is hopping every night and features a famed chef from New York in its main restaurant. It has several bars and a nightclub and hosts fashion shows and fundraisers with celebrities all year long. It is one of the biggest draws of the area.
That would be cool. However, I don't think the
W they recently opened in Ft. Lauderdale is doing too well. If that one is floundering, it's hard to imagine that one in Jacksonville could do better. Too bad.
the longest corridor of strip malls in the city is not southside blvd... but beach blvd
Quote from: finehoe on February 05, 2010, 12:11:03 PM
That would be cool. However, I don't think the W they recently opened in Ft. Lauderdale is doing too well. If that one is floundering, it's hard to imagine that one in Jacksonville could do better. Too bad.
The hotel portion is doing just fine, its the fact it had a lot of residences in the project that has hurt it. However, both towers did get built and was joined by Trump, St. Regis and Ritz-Carlton at the same time during the boom.
Tallahassee opened an Aloft within the last year, but they smartly put it downtown. I will say though that of the suburban locations to choose from, this is one of the better ones because of the density in the area.
Now don't forget they still have a proposed location at Avenues Walk. Whether it goes through or not is in the air, but I'm not betting on it.
Quote from: DemocraticNole on February 05, 2010, 03:32:58 PM
Tallahassee opened an Aloft within the last year, but they smartly put it downtown.
That's primarily because of the Capitol and Legislature...and to a lesser extent, proximity to FSU.
Anybody know the status of this?
the Aloft is under construction and expected to open by the end of the year
Anyone know how Tapestry Park is doing? I really like the whole setup, but I can't help but noticing how dead most of the restaurants in the development are most nights.
I'd point to the selection, or apparent lack thereof.
An expensive steakhouse ("in this economy..."), a hot dog/smoothie joint (not sure if they're even open in the evenings anyway), a sushi place (already ubiquitous in the immediate surrounding area, and in Jax as a whole), and a Thai restaurant (not everyone is a Thai fan) are the four that I can come up with off-hand that are in there.
Not sure there are any/many more than that.
Need a couple of Bistro-type establishments in there, and a mom-and-pop shop or three might help too.
They is a Jimmy John's in there. It looks to be busy during the day and dead at night.
The steakhouse seems to be doing pretty good business.
I am sure the rental rates are ridiculous in there.
Jimmy Johns is packed at lunchtime, and III Forks does good dinner business... not unlike Larrys and Seven Bridges across the street.
Never been to the other places.
Aloft's sign says 'opening Jan 2011' for whatever thats worth.
Its about as close to "infill" construction that the southside area of Jax can come up with. At least all of this was developed on old titanium/rutile strip mines with not much in the way of intact natural communities. With the condos + retail, it is refreshing to see more mixed-use development. It's sure as hell more "town center" than that sprawling mall is a few miles to the east.